1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing controller that includes a plurality of interfaces having different specifications and an image processing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image forming apparatuses transfer image data through an engine interface (I/F), mounted on an image processing controller, which is a comparatively low-speed interface such as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). If the PCI is used as an interface between the image processing controller and a chipset of a central processing unit (CPU) in the image forming apparatus, the capacity of the PCI is insufficient to transfer data. Therefore, Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is conventionally used. The AGP is an interface specification for a data transfer path between a video card and a main memory, developed by Intel Corporation.
As explained above, a plurality of interfaces such as PCI and AGP are often used for the image forming apparatus. Therefore, a technology for switching the interfaces is proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-333232. By using the technology, high-speed transfer becomes possible in a communication path through which a large amount of data is transferred.
Recently, PCI Express (hereinafter, “PCIe”) has been proposed in the computer industry. The PCIe is an interface specification for data transfer at a higher speed than that of the PCI, and is compatible with the PCI at software level.
On the other hand, a request to mount-the high-speed engine I/F such as the PCIe also on an image processing controller tends to be made to improve throughput of data communication.
Moreover, even if a PCIe I/F is mounted on the image processing controller of the image forming apparatus, a PCI I/F is also required depending on a device to be mounted on the image forming apparatus.
The PCIe is capable of data transfer at a higher speed than that of the AGP. Therefore, when the PCIe I/F is mounted on the image processing controller, the AGP can be replaced with the PCIe. This allows the interfaces to be unified so as to be compatible with PCI at software level.
However, in the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-333232, it is not considered that the interfaces are unified so as to be compatible with the PCI or the PCIe at the software level.
Furthermore, when the PCI and the PCIe are mounted on the image forming apparatus in a simple manner, that is, when only the PCI and the PCIe are mounted thereon, a component such as a switch or a bridge is required to convert data between the PCI and the PCIe, which causes an increase in cost thereof.